SL-Windies ODIs postponed

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in consultation with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has decided to postpone the five match One Day International series between the two teams and which was scheduled to commence in Hambanthota yesterday.

The tourists, who played three rain-hit drawn Tests in Sri Lanka over the past month, had been due to begin the five-match one-day series in the southern town of Hambantota on Thursday.

But with the rains showing no signs of abating, local cricket authorities decided to put off the matches until a yet to be decided date in January.

A statement from Sri Lanka Cricket read: “West-Indies-Sri Lanka One Day International series has been postponed due to the prevailing weather conditions.

The series will be rescheduled to be held before the 2011 ICC World Cup.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Sooriyawewa Hambantota, one of the venues for next year’s World Cup, was due to host the first two one day internationals. The remaining three one day internationals and the solitary Twenty20 international was scheduled to be worked off at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The recently concluded Test series between the two teams was also hampered by rains and ended in a stalemate.

The Westi Indies tour in Sri Lanka, which was planned in 2006, has been marred by unusually bad weather with more rains forecast for the next two weeks all over the country.

CD